Location information management method and apparatus of mobile terminal

ABSTRACT

A method and apparatus for managing location information of a mobile terminal are provided. The method includes obtaining one or more point sites associated with a movement characteristic of an electronic device, determining a current position of the electronic device, determining a route based on the current position and the one or more point sites, and presenting the route on a map via a display operably coupled to the electronic device.

PRIORITY

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.13/095,301, filed on Apr. 27, 2011, which claims the benefit under 35U.S.C. §119(a) of a Korean patent application filed on May 4, 2010 inthe Korean Intellectual Property Office and assigned Serial No.10-2010-0041659, the entire disclosure of which is hereby incorporatedby reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention:

The present invention relates to a mobile terminal. More particularly,the present invention relates to a method and apparatus for managinglocation information of a mobile terminal.

2. Description of the Related Art:

Mobile terminals of the related art now integrate various supplementaryfunctions. For example, a mobile terminal can now support a messagingfunction, a wireless Internet access function, a phonebook function, aschedule organizer function, a navigation function, etc. Moreparticularly, a mobile terminal may be equipped with the navigationfunction which provides the terminal's user with location information ina location search mode. The location information can include ambientinformation about a location and a route from a current location to adestination location.

Such a mobile terminal of the related art is configured to provide theusual location information. For example, in the navigation mode, themobile terminal of the related art may provide information on a shortestroute and a roundabout route from the current location to a destinationlocation, but not any user-specific information about a user's favoriteroutes. Also, the mobile terminal of the related art lacks features suchas, for example, selective information feedback for providing the userwith ambient information regarding local objects such as parks,hospitals, shopping centers, and restaurants selectively according tothe user's preference. This restricts the terminal user from using thelocation information more efficiently. That is, the mobile terminal ofthe related art is disadvantageous in that the location informationacquired by its navigation function is used inefficiently. There istherefore a need to develop a method for improving the usability of thelocation information.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Aspects of the present invention are to address at least theabove-mentioned problems and/or disadvantages and to provide at leastthe advantages described below. Accordingly, an aspect of the presentinvention is to provide a method and an apparatus for managing locationinformation of a mobile terminal.

In accordance with an aspect of the present invention, a method formanaging location information is provided. The method includesdetermining location information of a current position while in a GlobalPositioning System (GPS) reception mode, checking at least one ofpreference routes and interest sites within an interest area in avicinity of the current position, and presenting at least one of thepreference routes and interest sites on a map.

In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, an apparatusfor managing location information is provided. The apparatus includes aGPS module for receiving GPS data while in a GPS reception mode, acontrol unit for determining location information of a current positionby analyzing the GPS data, a memory unit for saving at least one ofpreference routes and interest sites within an interest area in avicinity of the current position, and a presentation unit for presentingat least one of the preference routes and interest sites on a map.

Other aspects, advantages, and salient features of the invention willbecome apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detaileddescription, which, taken in conjunction with the annexed drawings,discloses exemplary embodiments of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other aspects, features, and advantages of certainexemplary embodiments of the present invention will be more apparentfrom the following description taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a mobileterminal according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an internal configuration of acontrol unit of FIG. 1 according to an exemplary embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a location information managementmethod for a mobile terminal according to an exemplary embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a point site determination procedureof FIG. 3 according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a route learning procedure of FIG. 3according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary screen image forexplaining a principle of the route learning procedure of FIG. 5according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a preference learning procedure ofFIG. 3 according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating an interest site presentationprocedure of FIG. 3 according to an exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating exemplary screen images for explaininga principle of the interest site presentation procedure of FIG. 8according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary screen image forexplaining a principle of the router presentation procedure of FIG. 3according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

Throughout the drawings, it should be noted that like reference numbersare used to depict the same or similar elements, features, andstructures.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS

The following description with reference to the accompanying drawings isprovided to assist in a comprehensive understanding of exemplaryembodiments of the invention as defined by the claims and theirequivalents. It includes various specific details to assist in thatunderstanding but these are to be regarded as merely exemplary.Accordingly, those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize thatvarious changes and modifications of the embodiments described hereincan be made without departing from the scope and spirit of theinvention. In addition description of well-known functions andconstructions may be omitted for clarity and conciseness.

The terms and words used in the following description and claims are notlimited to the bibliographical meanings, but, are merely used by theinventor to enable a clear and consistent understanding of theinvention. Accordingly, it should be apparent to those skilled in theart that the following description of exemplary embodiments of thepresent invention is provided for illustration purpose only and not forthe purpose of limiting the invention as defined by the appended claimsand their equivalents.

It is to be understood that the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the”include plural referents unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.Thus, for example, reference to “a component surface” includes referenceto one or more of such surfaces.

Hereinafter, the term “location information” denotes information thatcorresponds to a location and is managed in the mobile terminal. Thelocation information may include coordinates and time data. The locationinformation may further include velocity data at a specific locationselectively. Here, the velocity data denotes a passing speed of themobile terminal at the corresponding location. The term “point” denotesa location. The term “point site” denotes a location which the mobileterminal has passed. The term “preference route” denotes a routeconnecting the current location to the point site. That is, the pointsite can be regarded as an intermediate destination through which themobile terminal travels to a final destination. At this time, the pointsite may include a stop point, a route point, and a turning point.

The term “stop point” denotes a location where the mobile terminalremained for a period of time. The term “stop period” denotes a timeduration for determining a stop point. The term “stop region” denotes anarea within a predetermined radius. The term “route point” denotes alocation on a predicted route through which the mobile terminal ispredicted to pass. That is, the predicted route can be presented as acombination of route points. The term “turning point” denotes a locationwhich is selected from the route points and at which a movementdirection of the mobile terminal changed on the predicted route by morethan a predetermined threshold amount.

The term “interest area” denotes an area where the terminal user wantsto perform a search. Here, the interest area includes locations within apredetermined radius of a certain point. The term “interest site”denotes a location determined in accordance with search criteria whenthe mobile terminal performs searching of the interest area. Forexample, the interest site may be a hospital, a drugstore, a park, apublic office, a restaurant, a theatre, a shopping center, etc. The term“interest information” denotes information associated with the interestsite and provided selectively. For example, the interest information mayinclude a phone number, an email address, a homepage address, a coupon,etc.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a mobileterminal according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an internal configuration of acontrol unit of FIG. 1 according to an exemplary embodiment of thepresent invention. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary screenimage for explaining a principle of the router presentation procedure ofFIG. 3 according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. Inthis exemplary embodiment, the description is directed to a mobile phoneas a representative mobile terminal.

Referring to FIG. 1, the mobile terminal 100 includes a Radio Frequency(RF) unit 110, a Global Positioning System (GPS) unit 120, a memory unit130, a control unit 140, an audio processing unit 150, a display unit160, and an input unit 170.

The RF unit 110 is responsible for radio communication of the mobileterminal 100. The RF unit 110 may include an RF transmitter forup-converting and amplifying a transmit signal and an RF receiver forlow noise amplifying and down-converting a received signal.

The GPS unit 120 is responsible for receiving GPS data from the GPSsatellites. Here, the GPS is the global positioning system that uses 24GPS satellites orbiting about at 20.183 km.

The memory unit 130 may include a program memory and a data memory. Theprogram memory stores programs necessary for controlling generaloperations of the mobile terminal 100. The program memory also storesprograms for managing location information according to an exemplaryembodiment of the present invention. The data memory stores datagenerated when the programs are running. The memory unit 130 stores thelocation information according to an exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention. Here, the memory unit 130 stores the location informationincluding at least one of a point site and an interest site.

The control unit 140 controls operations of the mobile terminal 100. Thecontrol unit 140 may include a data processing unit comprising atransmitter for encoding and modulating the transmit signal and areceiver for demodulating and decoding the received signal. The dataprocessing unit may include a Modulator-Demodulator (modem) and aCoder-Decoder (codec) pack. The codec pack can include a data codec forprocessing packet data and an audio codec for processing an audio signalincluding voice. The control unit 140 executes a GPS reception mode bymeans of the GPS unit 120 according to an exemplary embodiment of thepresent invention. The control unit 120 analyzes GPS data and determineslocation information of a current location based on the analysis result.The control unit 140 determines location information of a currentlocation periodically and saves the location information in the memoryunit 130. The control unit 140 also registers a point site or aninterest site with the memory unit 130. The control unit 140 alsodetermines an interest site and provides the interest site information.For this purpose, the control unit 140 may include a point site detector210 and an interest site detector 220.

The point site detector 210 analyzes location information stored in thememory unit 130 to retrieve and register a point site, and to use theregistered point site. The point site detector 210 may be provided witha stop point determiner 211, a route learner 213, and a route presenter215. The stop point determiner determines a stop point in accordancewith a tarry time. The route learner 213 determines a predicted routeand extracts a turning point from the predicted route. The routepresenter 215 selects a point site according to the current location andprovides a preference route connecting the current location and thepoint site.

The interest site detector 220 analyzes an event for searching for aninterest site to determine and register the interest site and apreference level of the interest site, and utilizes the registeredinterest site. The interest site detector 220 may be provided with apreference learner 221 and an interest site presenter 223. Thepreference learner 221 analyzes the interest site to determine thepreference level of the interest site. The interest site presenter 223selects an interest site based on the preference level and providesinformation of the selected interest site.

The audio processing unit 150 processes a received audio signal from theaudio codec of the data processing unit so as to output through aspeaker (SPK) and transports a transmit audio signal input through amicrophone (MIC) to the audio codec of the data processing unit.

The display unit 160 displays an operating status of the mobile terminal100 under the control of the control unit 140. The display unit 160 maybe implemented with a Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) and, in this case,may include an LCD controller, a video memory for storing video data,and LCD devices. The LCD may be implemented with a touchscreen functionand, in this case, may comprise a part of the input unit 170.

The input unit 170 may be provided with a plurality of alphanumeric keysfor inputting alphabetic and numeric information and a plurality offunction keys for configuring various functions of the mobile terminal.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a location information managementmethod for a mobile terminal according to an exemplary embodiment of thepresent invention.

Referring to FIG. 3, in the location information management methoddepicted, the control unit 140 first executes the GPS reception mode atstep 311. If GPS data is received by means of the GPS unit 120, thecontrol unit 140 detects the receipt of the GPS data at step 313 anddetermines a current location based on the GPS data at step 315. Thatis, the control unit 140 analyzes the GPS data and determines thecurrent location based on the analysis result. The control unit 140stores the location information in the memory unit 130 at step 317.

Next, the control unit 140 determines whether a learning period hasstarted at step 319 and, if the learning period is determined to havestarted, executes a point site determination procedure at step 321. Atthis time, the control unit 140 analyzes the location informationcollected during the learning period. The control unit 140 can determinea stop point. The control unit 140 can also determine a turning pointthrough a route learning process. The point site determination procedureis described hereinafter in more detail.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a point site determination procedureof FIG. 3 according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 4, in the point site determination procedure depicted,the control unit 140 first determines a stop region at step 411. Here,the control unit 140 compares coordinates of location information. Next,the control unit 140 determines the stop region by combining locationinformation in which a distance between the coordinates is less than athreshold value. Next, the control unit determines whether a tarryingtime of the mobile terminal exceeds a predetermined stop period at step413. That is, the control unit 140 continues comparing the time data inlocation information within the stop region. The control unit 140 alsocontinues collecting the time data and compares the time data with thestop period.

If the tarrying time of the mobile terminal is determined to exceed thestop period at step 413, the control unit 140 extracts at least one stoppoint within the stop region at step 415. That is, the control unit 140selects a stop point based on the location information collected withinthe stop region. Next, the control unit 140 assigns a name of the stoppoint at step 417. At this time, the control unit 140 collects ambientinformation at the stop point in map data and assigns a name to the stoppoint in accordance with the ambient information. The control unit 140can control the display unit 160 to display a message prompting theterminal user to assign a name to the stop point. The control unit 140can designate the text input by means of the input unit 170 as the nameof the stop point.

The control unit 140 determines whether to register the stop point atstep 419. At this time, the control unit 140 can determine whether thestop point is already registered in the memory unit 130. The controlunit 140 also can control the display unit 160 to display a messageprompting the terminal user to decide whether to register the stoppoint. The control unit 140 can determine whether to register the stoppoint according to a user's input through the input unit 170. If it isdetermined to register the stop point at step 419, the control unit 140registers the stop point as a point site at step 421. That is, thecontrol unit 140 saves the location information on the stop point in thestorage unit 130. Finally, the control unit 140 ends the stop pointdetermination procedure and returns to the next step 327 in FIG. 3.

If the tarrying time of the mobile terminal is determined not to exceedthe stop period at step 413 or if it is determined not to register thestop point at step 419, the control unit 140 ends the stop pointdetermination procedure and returns to the next step 327 in FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a route learning procedure of FIG. 3according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6 isa diagram illustrating an exemplary screen image for explaining aprinciple of the route learning procedure of FIG. 5 according to anexemplary embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIGS. 5 and 6, in the route learning procedure depicted,the control unit 140 first determines route points 613 that are linkedinto a predicted route 611 at step 511. For this purpose, the controlunit 140 compares the coordinates data and time data of the locationinformation. The time data is connected regularly, and the control unit140 determines the predicted route 611 with the combination of thelocation information of which coordinate data is linked insynchronization with the time data. The control unit 140 also determinespositions on the predicted route 611 as the route points 613. Next, thecontrol unit 140 extracts at least one turning point 615 among the routepoints 613 at step 513. In order to detect a turning point 615, thecontrol unit 140 determines whether an absolute angle (α) formed betweentwo path segments linked at a route point, each path segment beingformed by connecting another route point contiguous in time to thelinking route point, is greater than a threshold angle. If the absoluteangle (α) is greater than the threshold angle, the control unit 140determines the linking route point as the turning point 615.

Next, the control unit 140 determines whether multiple turning points615 are detected at step 515. If multiple turning points 615 aredetected, the control unit 140 determines whether the distance betweentwo turning points 615 is equal to or greater than a threshold value atstep 517. If only one turning point is detected at step 515 or if thedistance between the two turning points is determined to be equal to orgreater than the threshold value at step 517, the control unit 140determines whether to register the turning point at step 519. At thistime, the control unit 140 can check whether the turning point 615 isalready registered in the memory unit 130. The control unit 140 can alsocontrol the display unit 160 to display a message prompting the terminaluser to determine whether to confirm the registration of the turningpoint. The control unit 140 can determine whether to register theturning point 615 according to a user input by means of the input unit170.

If it is determined to register the turning point at step 519, thecontrol unit 140 registers the turning point 615 as a point site at step521. If it is determined that the turning point 615 is not registered inthe memory unit 130, the control unit 140 registers the turning point615. That is, the control unit 140 saves the location information of theturning point 615 in the memory unit 130. Finally, the control unit 140ends the route learning procedure and returns to the next step in FIG.3.

Otherwise, if the distance between the two turning points is less thanthe threshold value at step 517 or if it is not determined to registerthe turning point at step 519, the control unit 140 ends the routelearning procedure and returns to the next step in FIG. 3. At this time,the control unit 140 can delete the location information collected forthe learning period.

If it is not determined that the learning period has started at step319, the control unit 140 determines whether an interest site isdetected at step 323 and, if it is determined that an interest site isdetected at step 323, performs a preference learning procedure at step325. At this time, the control unit 140 determines a preference level ofthe corresponding interest site. Table 1 shows items representing theevents related to the detection of the interest sites that are stored inthe memory unit 130. The preference learning procedure of the controlunit 140 will be described in more detail hereinafter.

TABLE 1 Item Description PREF_DEG_SEARCH_MAP Select interest sitePREF_DEG_SEARCH_DETAIL Display interest information of interest sitePREF_DEG_SEARCH_CALL Place call to interest site PREF_DEG_SEARCH_NETaccess interest site via Internet PREF_DEG_DOWNLOAD_COUPON Downloadcoupon of interest site PREF_DEG_VISIT_BYNAVI Display route to interestsite PREF_DEG_VISIT_SIMPLE Visit interest site PREF_DEG_VISIT_BYPAY Payat interest site

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a preference learning procedure ofFIG. 3 according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 7, in the preference learning procedure depicted, thecontrol unit 140 first determines an interest site at step 711. Next,the control unit 140 analyzes the interest site at step 713. At thistime, the control unit 140 can determine an interest area around theinterest site. Next, the control unit 140 checks location informationabout the interest area. Here, the control unit 140 can determine aplace, e.g., Myongdong, Gangnam, or Suwon, corresponding to the interestarea. Next, the control unit 140 analyzes an interest category at step715. That is, the control unit 140 categorizes the interest informationaccording to interest categories comprising at least one layer. Interestcategories classified on a first layer can be stored in the memory unit130 as shown in Table 2. The interest categories also can be furtherclassified on a second layer and stored in the memory unit as shown inTable 3.

TABLE 2 First layer Auto Service Bank Business Community Eating andDrinking Accommodation Health and Medical Shopping Tourist AttractionTransport Leisure and Sports Restaurant — —

TABLE 3 Second layer Bowling Center Casino Cinema Golf Course IceSkating Rink Marina Public Sport Airport Recreation Facility Ski ResortSports Activity Sports Center — —

Next, the control unit 140 analyzes a search time at step 717. At thistime, the control unit 140 can check a start time or an end time of asearch for an interest site. Here, the control unit 140 can classify thesearch time into interest times, e.g. weekend and weekday, morning andafternoon, or before and after work hours. Next, the control unitcalculates an increment of preference on the interest site at step 719.At this time, the control unit 140 can calculate the increment ofpreference on the interest site by applying a weight determinedaccording to at least one of the item, interest area, interest category,and interest time. For example, the control unit 140 might apply ahigher weight to the ‘PREF_DEG_VISIT_SIMPLE’ or ‘PREF_DEG_VISIT_BYPAY’as compared to other items among the search event items. If the interestarea is a location such as ‘Myongdong’, the control unit 140 might applya higher weight to ‘weekend’ as compared to ‘weekday’ in the searchtime. Similarly, if the interest area is ‘Soowon’, the control unit 140might apply a higher weight to ‘Restaurant’ in the interest category.

Next, the control unit determines whether the interest site has alreadybeen registered at step 721. If it is not determined that the interestsite has been registered, the control unit 140 extracts the interestinformation at step 723. That is, the control unit 140 retrieves theinterest information about the interest site from the memory unit 130 oraccesses an external server (not shown) to retrieve the interestinformation about the interest site. Next, the control unit 140registers the interest site at step 725. After registering the interestsite, the control unit 140 registers the preference level by reflectingthe increment of the preference on the interest site at step 727. Thatis, the control unit 140 saves the interest site and the preference ofthe interest site in the memory unit 130. Finally, the control unit 140ends the preference learning procedure and returns to the next step 327of FIG. 3.

If it is determined at step 721 that the interest site has beenregistered, the control unit 140 changes the preference by reflectingthe increment of the preference of the interest site at step 727. Thatis, the control unit 140 updates the preference of the interest site inthe memory unit 130. Finally, the control unit 140 ends the preferencelearning procedure and returns to the next step 327 of FIG. 3.

At the next step, the control unit 140 performs an interest sitepresentation procedure at step 327. Here, the control unit 140determines an interest area and presents an interest site within theinterest area. The interest site can be stored in the memory unit 130 asshown in Table 4. The interest site presentation procedure is describedhereinafter in more detail.

TABLE 4 Interest Interest Interest Interest Interest site area cat. timeinfo. (x₁, y₁, z₁) Myongdong Shopping Weekend/afternoon 00-000-0000 (x₂,y₂, z₂) Soowon Restaurant Weekday/afternoon 11-111-1111 — — — — — — — —— —

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating an interest site presentationprocedure of FIG. 3 according to an exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention. FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating exemplary screen images forexplaining a principle of the interest site presentation procedure ofFIG. 8 according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 8, in the interest site presentation proceduredepicted, the control unit 140 first determines an interest area at step811. The interest area can be determined as a vicinity of the currentlocation. Also, when a point site is selected by means of the key inputunit 170, the control unit 140 can determine the interest area aroundthe selected point site. Next, the control unit 140 searches forinterest sites within the interest area at step 813. Next, the controlunit 140 determines whether an interest site exists within the interestarea at step 815. If it is determined that no interest site exists inthe interest area at step 815, the control unit 140 expands the interestarea at step 817. After expanding the interest area, the control unit140 repeats steps 813 and 815.

If it is determined that at least one interest site exists in theinterest area at step 815, the control unit 140 sorts the interest sitesat step 819. At this time, the control unit 140 compares a preference ofeach interest information with a threshold value to select at least onecorresponding interest site of which the preference is equal to orgreater than the threshold value. That is, the control unit 140 selectsone of the interest sites in accordance with at least one of interestarea, interest time, and interest category. Next, the control unit 140controls the display unit 160 to present the selected interest site 915as shown in FIG. 9 at step 821. At this time, the control unit 140 cancontrol to also display the interest information on the interest site915. Finally, the control unit 140 ends the interest site presentationprocedure and returns to the next step 329 in FIG. 3.

For example, the control unit 140 can control such that the interestsite 915 is presented on a map 913 displaying the interest areaincluding the current location 911 in the form of an icon as shown inpart (a) of FIG. 9. Here, the current location 911 can be replaced witha point site. At this time, the control unit 140 can display theinterest categories 917 in a form of icons. The control unit 140 cansort the interest categories in order of preference levels of at leastone of the interest area or the interest time. If another interestcategory 917 is selected, the control unit 140 retrieves the interestsites 915 belonging to the selected interest category and presents theinterest sites 915 in the form of icons as shown in part (b) of FIG. 9.

The control unit 140 can also present the interest sites 915 in a formof a list as shown in part (c) of FIG. 9. At this time, the control unit140 can present the interest categories 917 in the form of icons. Here,the control unit 140 can sort the interest categories 917 in an order ofpreference of at least one of the interest area or the interest time. Ifanother category 917 is selected, the control unit reselects interestsites 915 belonging to the reselected interest category 917 and presentsthe reselected sites 915 in the form of a list as shown in part (d) ofFIG. 9.

Returning to FIG. 3, the control unit 140 analyzes the current locationand determines whether the location of the mobile terminal has changedat step 329. That is, the control unit 104 compares the current locationinformation with the previous location information to determine whetherthe location has changed. If it is determined that the location of themobile terminal has changed, the control unit 140 retrieves a preferenceroute at step 331. At this time, the control unit 140 determines aninterest area around the current location. Next, the control unit 140searches for point sites within the interest area. At this time, thecontrol unit 140 can determine a movement direction of the mobileterminal 100 according to the previous location information and currentlocation information. The control unit 140 can also search for pointsites in accordance with the movement direction of the mobile terminal100. At this time, the control unit 140 can retrieve at least one pointsite. The control unit 140 further determines the preference routeconnecting the current location and a point site. At this time, thecontrol unit 104 can determine at least one preference route.

Finally, the control unit 140 presents the preference route 927, asshown in FIG. 10, at step 333. That is, the control unit 140 presentsthe point sites 925, in the form of icons, on the map 923 displaying theinterest area including the current location 921 of the mobile terminal100. At this time, the control unit 140 can present a message promptingthe terminal user to determine whether to present the preference route927. If the terminal user determines to display the preference route 927by means of the input unit 170, the control unit 140 presents thepreference router 927 on the map.

As described above, the location information management method andapparatus of the present invention are capable of providing a preferenceroute according to a current location of the mobile terminal. That is,although the terminal user does not select a search location manually,the mobile terminal 100 selects a destination according to the pointsite and provides a preference route from the current location to thedestination location. Accordingly, it is possible to provide theterminal user with a user-preference route. The location informationmanagement method and apparatus of the present invention is advantageousto provide the terminal user with the information on the interest sitesin accordance with the user preference without requiring manualselection by the user. Accordingly, it is possible to improve the user'sconvenience and utilization efficiency of the location information ofthe mobile terminal.

While the present invention has been shown and described with referenceto certain exemplary embodiments thereof, it will be understood by thoseskilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be madetherein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention asdefined in the appended claims and their equivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method comprising: obtaining one or more pointsites associated with a movement characteristic of an electronic device;determining a current position of the electronic device; determining aroute based on the current position and the one or more point sites; andpresenting the route on a map via a display operably coupled to theelectronic device.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the obtainingcomprises: determining a stop region, based at least in part on atarrying time of the electronic device at the stop region; and selectinga point within the stop region.
 3. The method of claim 2, wherein thestop region comprises determining the stop region based at least in parton determining distances between coordinates from the locationinformation within threshold.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein theobtaining comprises: determining a path associated with the electronicdevice, the path comprising a plurality of points and a plurality ofpath segments connecting the plurality of points; and selecting a pointat which an angle between two path segments of the path is larger than athreshold angle, from the plurality of points.
 5. The method of claim 1,wherein the determining the route comprises: determining an interestarea within a specified radius from the current position, wherein theroute connects the current position with a point site of the one or morepoint sites, the point site being within the interest area.
 6. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the determining the route comprises:determining a moving direction of the electronic device, wherein theroute connects the current position with a point site of the one or morepoint sites in accordance with the moving direction.
 7. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the presenting comprises presenting informationcorresponding to the one or more point sites on the map at least in partin a form of graphical symbol or text.
 8. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising: determining an interest site based on an information accessto the interest site; and managing a preference level of the interestsite based on at least one of time, category, location or contactinformation of the interest site.
 9. The method of claim 8, wherein thedetermining the interest area comprises determining the interest areabased at least in part on the interest site or the preference level ofthe interest site.
 10. The method of claim 8, wherein the presentingcomprises presenting information corresponding to the interest site onthe map at least in part in a form of graphical symbol or text.
 11. Anapparatus comprising: a positioning unit to determine a current positionof the apparatus; a control unit to obtain one or more point sitesassociated with a movement characteristic of the apparatus and determinea route based on the current position and the one or more point sites;and a display unit to present the route on a map.
 12. The apparatus ofclaim 11, wherein the control unit comprises a stop point determiner todetermine a stop region based at least in part on a tarrying time of theapparatus at the stop region and select a point within the stop region.13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the stop region comprisesdetermining the stop region based at least in part on determiningdistances between coordinates from the location information withinthreshold.
 14. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the control unitcomprises route learner to determine a path associated with theelectronic device, the path comprising a plurality of points and aplurality of path segments connecting the plurality of points and selecta point at which an angle between two path segments of the path islarger than a threshold angle, from the plurality of points.
 15. Theapparatus of claim 11, wherein the control unit determines an interestarea within a specified radius from the current position, wherein theroute connects the current position with a point site of the one or morepoint sites, the point site being within the interest area.
 16. Theapparatus of claim 11, wherein the control unit determines a movingdirection of the apparatus, wherein the route connects the currentposition with a point site of the one or more point sites in accordancewith the moving direction.
 17. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein thecontrol unit comprises an interest site detector to determine aninterest site and to manage a preference level of the interest site. 18.The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the control unit determines theinterest area based at least in part on the interest site or thepreference level of the interest site.
 19. The apparatus of claim 17,wherein the display unit presents information corresponding to the oneor more point sites or the interest site on the map at least in part ina form of graphical symbol or text.
 20. A computer-readable mediumstoring instructions, when executed by one or more processors, cause theone or more processors to perform operations comprising: obtaining oneor more point sites associated with a movement characteristic of anelectronic device; determining a current position of the electronicdevice; determining a route based on the current position and the one ormore point sites; and presenting the route on a map via a displayoperably coupled to the electronic device.